Where, why, how and what papers? Denmark is the answer

Out of practical and organisational reasons, which have to do with me being employed and her being self-employed, it became clear soon, that we would get married where I live: Berlin, Germany. After some extensive research on required documents, we started to rethink this and finally decided differently. But first things first. And in Germany, if you want to get married, the first thing is a “Ehefähigkeitszeugnis”.

Ehefähigkeitszeugnis

If you don’t speak German, the “Ehefähigkeitszeugnis” is a reason alone to learn it. It translates to “certificate of no impediment to marriage” but it has the great sound and associations of “report card” and “capability certificate” as well. So the “marriage capability report card” has to be the first step you have to take to get married in Germany. And, of course, both parties have to present certain documents and fulfill criterias in order to get their Ehefähigkeitszeugnis.

Now, since Brazil does not know anything like a Ehefähigkeitszeugnis, the best bride ever could of course get none. But to be able to get married without a Ehefähigkeitszeugnis we would have to apply to be exempt from the obligation to have it. This alone is a process that would take some weeks and nerves.

Denmark here we come

Now in order to get the excemption, we would have to prove the best brides marital status, a birth certificate and a residence certification. Since the best bride ever had been married before, we would also have to prove that she got divorced properly. And contrary to other countries, the Brazilian divorce certificate seems to be not enough in Germany – so we read and were told – we would have to hire an attorney in Brazil to go to court, let the archive be opened and have him made an official copy of the court’s ruling. So the Ehefähigkeitszeugnis (beuatiful as it sounds) made us decide that Germany may not be the right place for us to get married. We will be following a family tradition and will get married in Denmark instead, which is the Las Vegas of Europe, at least when it comes to getting married. So Denmark, here we come….

Endless Summer

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